Belle(re)vue
The Bellevue office building as a case study for post-1965 office transformation strategies
S.J. van Haaften (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
C.H.J. de Vries – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
B. Lubelli – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
L.G.K. Spoormans – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
This graduation project investigates the transformation potential of the Bellevue office building in The Hague, a post-1965 office building currently threatened by demolition and redevelopment. The research addresses the question: Through what interventions can the Bellevue office building be transformed while preserving its distinctive characteristics and responding to current location specific challenges?
The study is based on a research by design methodology and combines architectural, urban, historical, and spatial analyses. The research identifies Bellevue’s most distinctive quality as its role as an urban transition between low rise and high rise scales. Additional analyses focused on the façade composition, programmatic expression, and spatial organization of the building, particularly its circulation and office layout.
The resulting transformation proposal reinterprets Bellevue as a public university building centered around political engagement and democratic participation. The design introduces new stepped volumes containing student housing, educational functions and public programs. A central public atrium and vertical circulation route connect the program components inspire, explore, and express, culminating in the student’s rostrum: a public platform for political expression. Through these interventions, Bellevue regains urban, architectural and societal relevance.